Longhorns Notebook: Texas' Season Comes to Disappointing End After UTSA Loss

When the Texas Longhorns (44-14) were announced as the No. 2 overall national seed in the Field of 64, they were immediately seen by many as a strong contender to win the Austin Regional and potentially super regional en route to a trip back to Omaha.

And that looked like it would come true following their win over the Houston Christian Huskies in the opener. However, they simply could not come up with an answer for the UTSA Roadrunners (47-13) in either attempt. They first choked a 6-1 lead on Saturday in what would become a 9-7 heartbreaking loss.

Then on Sunday it was never really competitive, as the Roadrunners took a 6-0 lead after the third inning and never looked back. From there it was all UTSA, as the Longhorns failed to rally and saw their season come to an end with a 7-4 loss.

Texas Longhorns infielder Jalin Flores (1) throws the ball back from the outfield in the fourth inning as the Longhorns take on the Florida Gators. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Now, here are three key takeaways from the Longhorns’ loss to the Roadrunners.

Pitching runs out of gas

All season long the strength of the Longhorns was their pitching staff, as they boasted not only one of the best staffs in the conference but in all of college baseball. However, once they lost Jared Spencer for the season it was going to be an uphill battle. Unfortunately that reared its head at the worst possible time.

In both outings against the Roadrunners it was just not possible for the Longhorns to slow down a potent lineup. It didn’t matter who they threw, as everyone aside from Dylan Volantis seemed to struggle. This culminated in an ugly loss in the Austin Regional final, as they gave up 16 runs to the Roadrunners compared to just 9 against the Huskies and Wildcats.

Bats inconsistent once again

The offense was far from Texas’ strength this season. However, the Longhorns still showed through early parts of the campaign an ability to make opponents work and put up crooked numbers in the run column in the blink of an eye. That all disappeared down the stretch and was painfully evident again in the loss to UTSA.

Multiple times throughout Sunday’s game felt like a rinse and repeat of Saturday. They would get multiple men on only for the guys behind them to put up uninspiring and uncompetitive at-bats. As a collective, in the two losses they went a combined 5-38 with runners in scoring position in what was a pair of uninspiring outings.

Bitter end to a good season

Two things can be true at once. First, the Longhorns undoubtedly had a successful season overall, winning the regular season SEC crown in their first season as members of the conference. That being said, it is hard to not have a disappointing feeling with how both the SEC and NCAA Tournament unfolded.

One game was all they played in Hoover as they dropped their opener against the Tennessee Volunteers. Despite that the Longhorns were still the No. 2 overall national seed, but proceeded to lose the Austin Regional, the first time they’ve lost a home regional since 2007.

There will be a lot of changes to come over the offseason, as the Longhorns will look to build on a promising first season under Jim Schlossnagle.

What’s next for Texas?

That’s the season, folks. The Longhorns ultimately come up short and find themselves eliminated from their own regional.